Born in 1967 in Prague, Czech Republic
Lives and works in Norrtälje, Sweden

Klara KRISTALOVA

Klara Kristalova was born in former Czechoslovakia in 1967 and moved to Sweden with her parents when she was only a year old. She studied at the Royal University College of Fine Art, Stockholm. Kristalova constructs an odd yet familiar world, inhabited by characters who are peculiar, alone, quiet, and perhaps lost—as if they have just escaped from a cruel tale and are waiting for a passerby to show them the way. Made from glazed ceramics, Kristalova’s figures evoke rawness, vulnerability, and humanity. Drawing from Nordic storytelling and traditional myths, the artist seeks to convey basic human emotions such as fear, love, sadness, and guilt, which emerge from her work like memories from our own childhoods. The landscape, though not directly represented, is an essential component of her mental and physical universe, inferred in fragments from the drawings, ceramics, and bronzes that populate the dark and mysterious exhibitions she has unveiled in recent years.

solo shows

2021
- Soft Parade, Perrotin, Seoul, Korea

2020
- Poem and thought, Lidköpings Konsthall, Lidköping, Sweden
- Galerie Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden

2017
- Camouflage, Galerie Perrotin, Paris
- Klara Kristalova, GL STRAND, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Slottet, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden

2016
- Hello Stranger, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong

2014
- Turning into Stone, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, USA
- Where I come from and where I will be, Galerie Hunt Kastner, Prague, Czech Republic
- Underworld, Galerie Perrotin, New York, USA
- Big Girl Now, Lehmann Maupin, New York, USA
- Bror Hjorts hus, Uppsala, Sweden

2013
- Västerâs Konstmuseum, Västerâs, Sweden

2012
- Wild Thought, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
- Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Göteborg, Sweden
- Galleri Rostrum, tillsammans med Peter Ern, Malmö, Sweden
- Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden

2011
- Sounds of Dogs and Youth, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, NY, USA
- New Work: Tiago Carneiro da Cunha and Klara Kristalova, SFMOMA, San Francisco, USA
- Galleri Syster, Luleå, Sweden

2010
- FIAC booth, Galerie Perrotin, Paris
- Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm
- Zachte witte blues,tills. med Daniel Jensen, Kunstverenigung Diepenheim, Netherlands

2009
- SITE, Museum Site Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
- Where the owls spend their days, Galerie Alisson Jacques, London, UK

2008
- Frieze Art Fair booth, Galerie Perrotin, London, UK
- Short Stories, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France

2007
- Two dark holes and other stories, Galerie Perrotin, Miami, USA
- Catastrophes and other everyday events, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden
- Visit, Härnösands Konsthall, Sweden

2004
- Galleri Magnus Karlsson;Stockholm, Sweden
- Galleri PS, Göteborg, Sweden
- Teatergalleriet, Uppsala, Sweden

2002
- Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden

2000
- Olle Olsson huset, Hagalund, Solna, Sweden

1999
- Galleri PS, Göteborg, Sweden

1998
- Galleri Axel Mörner, Stockholm, Sweden

1996
- Galleri TRE, Stockholm, Sweden

1995
- Galleri PS, Göteborg, Sweden

1994
- Bror Hjorts hus, Uppsala, Sweden
- Galleri Mejan, Stockholm, Sweden

group shows

2021
- Beyond the looking glass, United Talent Agency, Los Angeles, USA
- Du cheval à l'oeuvre, Haras National du Pin, Le Pin-au-Haras, France
- ART ZUID Amsterdam Sculptuur Biënnale, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2020
- Human After All, The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
- In the Name of Flower, Pearl Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- Signature women, Artipelag, Stockholm, Sweden

2019
- Tant le moindre de mes atomes t’appartient intimement : Œuvres choisies de la Collection Bailey, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
- LOVE by Pierre Yovanovitch, R & Company, New York, USA
- Shades of Existence, Teckningsmuseet, Laholm, Sweden
- Klara Kristalova, Hernan Bas, Izumi Kato, Eddie Martinez, Mr., Matthew Ronay, TOILET PAPER, Galerie Perrotin, Seoul, South Korea
- Beyond the Vessel, Meşher, Instanbul, Turkey 
- Klara Kristalova, Mårten Medbo, Per Sundberg, Steneby Konsthall, Dals Långed, Sweden
- Animals among humans/humans among animals, Konsthall Lokstallet, Strömstad, Sweden
- Sculpture in Pilane/Tjörn, Klövedal, Sweden
- Sculpture, Sculpture, Sculpture!, CFHILL, Stockholm, Sweden
- Figures de l'Animal, Abbaye Saint-André/Centre d'art contemporain, Meymac, France

2018
- The gathering, Falun Museum, Sweden
- Heads roll, Graves Gallery, Sheffield Museum, Sheffield, UK
- Detour, Omvägar Artipelag, Stockholm, Sweden

2017
- Queen Kristina !, Kristine Hamns Konstmuseum, Kristinehamns, Germany
- Yellow Creature - Aspekte der transformation, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland
- Les Imaginaires d'un monde in-tranquille, Abbaye Saint-André/Centre d'art contemporain, Meymac, France
- Kunstforeningen GL Strand, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Superflat consideration on contemporary ceramics, Towado art center, Japan

2016
- In the Search of Present, Museum of Modern Art, Helsinki, Finland
- Ceramix : De Rodin à Schütte, Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres, France
- Generosity: On the Art of Giving, National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
- Sisters of the moon” KMAC museum, Kentucky, USA
- No mans land, Rubell collection, Miami, FL, USA

2015
- Ceramix, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Art Park Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund, Denmark
- Prague City Gallery, Czech Republic

2014
- I Like it! What is it ?, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden

2013
- Body and Soul: New International Ceramics, Museum of Art and Design, New York ; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, USA
- Time Waits for Us, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden

2011
- The magic of clay, Glholtgaard Muaseum, Holte, Danemark

2010
- TOUCHED, Lehmann-Maupin Gallery NY, USA
- Larger than life – Stranger than fiction, 11eme Fellbach Small Sculpture Triennial, Germany
- The House In My Head, Kunsthallen Brandts, Odense, Denmark
- Soft white blues, Kunstvereniging, Diepenheim, Netherlands
- IN FULL BLOOM, Galeria Raffaela Cortese, Milano, Italy

2009
- 12 Suedoises sur la 14, Métro Pyramides, ligne 14, Paris, France
- Le Sang d'un poète, Biennale Estuaire Nantes / Saint-Nazaire (commissariat Frac des Pays de la Loire & Adam Budak), France
- L'artiste sorcier, Fondation Salomon pour l'art contemporain, Annecy, France
- An Expanded Field of Opportunities Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, USA

2007
- Past, Present, Future Perfect: Selections from the Ovitz Family Collection, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, USA
- Effigies, Stuart Shave Modern Art, London, UK
- Makers & Modelers: Works in Ceramic, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, USA
- Privat skulptur, Studio 44, Stockholm, Sweden
- Barnet i samtidskonsten, Haninge Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
- Grönska, Mjellby Konstmuseum, Halmstad, Sweden
- 20 år Bonniers konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden

2006
- Among gnomes and trolls, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden
- Grönska, Kristinehamns Konstmuseum, Sweden

2005
- The gallery, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden
- Svensk Konst Nu, SAK on tour; Kalmar Konstmuseum, Konstens Hus, Luleå, Länsmuseet, Gävleborg, Skövde Konsthall, Sweden

2004
- Talking to me? Rauma Biennale Balticum, Finland
Galleria Becker, Jyväskylä, Finland

2003
- 4 Förslag, Statens Konstråds galleri, Stockholm, Sweden

2002
- Blir du lonesome lille vän, Konstnärshuset, Stockholm, Sweden

2001
- The World of Flash, The Nunnery, London, England, UK
- Sveriges Allmänna Konstförening, Stockholm

2000
- Skövde Konsthall, Skövde; Sweden
- Norrtälje Konsthall, Norrtälje, Sweden
- Edition, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden

1999
- Galleri Doktor Glas, Stockholm, Sweden
- Art Farm, Åland, Finland
- Networking, P-house, Tokyo, Japan

1998
- The Bible of Networking, Sali Gia Gallery, London, UK
- The Bible of Networking, Konstakuten, Stockholm, Sweden
- Underbelly, Adelaide, Australia
- Galerie Eboran, Salzburg, Austria
- Skulptur, Pythagoras Industrimuseum, Norrtälje, Sweden

1997
- Unga tecknare, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden

1995
- Shaking patterns, W135, Amsterdam, Holland
- En öppning, Skövde Konsthall, Skövde, Sweden
- Stockholm Smart Show, Galleri TRE, Stockholm, Sweden
- Norrtälje Konsthall, (med Eva-Maria Ern), Norrtälje, Sweden

1994
- Stockholm Smart Show, Galleri TRE, Stockholm, Sweden
- Åtta fynd, Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
- Det dubbla arvet, Hallwylska palatset, Stockholm, Sweden
- Galleri S:t Olof, (med Ingela Johansson), Norrköping, Sweden

public collections

- FNAC - Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
- Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
- EMMA - Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland
- Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, USA 
- NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA 
- Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
- Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Sweden
- Västerås Konstmuseum, Sweden
- Bror Hjorts Hus, Uppsala, Sweden
- Skövde Konstmuseum, Sweden
- Norrtälje Kommun, Sweden
- Sundsvalls Konstmuseum, Sweden
- Statens Konstråd /The National Public  Art Council, Sweden
- Me Collectors Room - Olbricht Collection, Berlin, Germany
- Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA 
- Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK
- Yoshitomo Nara: N's Yard, Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
- Ordrupgaard Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

Public Commissions

- Invitated to competition for memorial over Carl v.Linne, Lund, Sweden, 2007
- Memorial in public garden-park, Tungelsta, Stockholm, Sweden, 2006
- Sculpture in residental area, Svedmyra, Stockholm, Sweden, 2006
- Public sqare, design and sculpturegroup, Falkenberg, Sweden, 2005
- Sculpture group for garden, Östersunds University, Sweden, 2004
- Entrance to Karlstad public park, Sweden, 2004
- Fysikcentrum, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, Stockholm, Sweden 2001
- Hässelby Strand, Stockholm, Sweden, 2000
- Uppsala Akademiska Sjukhus, Sweden, 1998
- Väggskulptur i Norrtälje Badhus, Sweden, 1995

bibliography


2019
- Milner Catherine | Beyond the Vessel - Myth, Legends, and Fables in Contemporary Ceramics Around Europe | Mesher

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The Meaningful Hedgehog

by Anders Olofsson

Klara Kristalova is a storyteller who uses the plasticity of sculpture to build small micro worlds, where something peculiar has just happened or is about to happen. Here she relates to a sculpture tradition that has its roots several hundred years in the past.

Kristalova is part of the generation that acquired a higher artistic education in the late 80’s and early 90’s, during a period when modernism was seriously challenged. Her works, however, have never shown any tendency towards a programmatically motivated spirit of revolt. This can to some extent be explained by the fact that she is the daughter of Eugen Krajcik, a Czech artist in exile with an anything but dogmatic attitude towards the conventions of modern art. But this has even more to do with Kristalova’s consistent ambition to lower the highbrow tone inherent in most artistic expressions.

Kristalova steers clear of the rhetorical aspects of art, and instead deals with the small narratives, dreams and nightmares that everyday life is full of. She is drawn to an invisible part of everyday existence, to a realm where our expectations take shape, where neuroses bloom and memories mutate. This often results in her work acquiring a bizarre, slightly unsettling quality. Who would, after all, want to come face to face with the physical embodiment of one’s own inner demons?

Kristalova proceeds in a very psychological manner. She normally chooses materials (plaster, bronze, wood and ceramics) and proportions associated with traditional decorative arts found in environments differing radically from the white cube. This compels us to communicate closely with the artworks, thereby making it virtually impossible for us to recoil as we are overwhelmed by their significance. And significance and meaning are precisely what Kristalova aims to convey with her art. Here it is not a question of presenting prefabricated conceptions of life, but rather of creating the means by which the ambiguous nature of what one is looking at becomes a resource. A wall with a peeking man’s face incorporated among the stones, or two hedgehogs in bronze, involved in a strange interaction where the one is lying helplessly on his back and the other stands presumably guilty – as artworks these pieces may perhaps be visually neutral, but far from meaningless.

extract from the catalogue "Le sang d'un poete"

by FRAC Pays de la Loire

The first surprise is the use of colour. The glazed finish gives a shine to each of the figures. This paint on the sculpture is obtained after firing, after being in the kiln. It is one of the charms of these miniature productions. The iridescent effect provides a diaphanous appearance of drifting. The preparatory sketches are very similar to the final output. The ink is wet, smudging. In an unwitting watercolour, rings stain the paper.

Lachrymal heroines, Klara Kristalova’s figures call upon our entire store of common mythology. They are a combination of male and female, and are at the same time victims and executioners. How can the Ophelia of Millais (a British nineteenth-century artist) not spring to mind when heads are rolling on the ground like footballs, their tongues giving up the ghost? At ground level, raven-black hair lets a blue reptilian tongue stick out from the face. This severed head calls to mind the duo, Judith and Holofernes; to save her city the fair Judith had no qualms about seducing the Assyrian general and beheading him in his sleep. (…) Creatures of transfer and transformation, they evolve into otherness. Somewhere between dream and nightmare, reality and fiction, humanity and animality, idealisation and monstrosity, part and whole, they form an eccentric portrait gallery. The severed heads are not without some hint of Northern Europe. They bring us closer to the most famous of Denmark’s princes, Hamlet himself. The stuff of meditation, these conceits allow viewers to let their minds wander and to immerse themselves once more into the world of the cruel tales of our childhood.

2021

Klara KRISTALOVA

June 24 - August 13, 2021

Seoul

1F 5 Palpan-gil, Jongno-gu

Soft parade

2020

Sophie CALLE, CHEN Ke, Jens FÄNGE, Bernard FRIZE, Laurent GRASSO, Thilo HEINZMANN, Gregor HILDEBRANDT, JR, Klara KRISTALOVA, Barry MCGEE, Takashi MURAKAMI, NI Youyu, Jean-Michel OTHONIEL

July 24 - August 29, 2020

Shanghai

3/F, 27 Hu Qiu Road, Huangpu District

Messenger

JR, Sophie CALLE, Johan CRETEN, Wim DELVOYE, Bernard FRIZE, Laurent GRASSO, Hans HARTUNG, John HENDERSON, Leslie HEWITT, Gregor HILDEBRANDT, Bharti KHER, Klara KRISTALOVA, Georges MATHIEU, Paola PIVI, Gabriel RICO, Xavier VEILHAN, XU ZHEN®

April 30 - June 18, 2020

Shanghai

3/F, 27 Hu Qiu Road, Huangpu District

Wonderland

2019

Hernan BAS, Izumi KATO, Klara KRISTALOVA, Eddie MARTINEZ, Mr., Matthew RONAY, TOILET PAPER: Collaboration Maurizio Cattelan / Pierpaolo Ferrari

September 24 - October 26, 2019

Seoul

1F 5 Palpan-gil, Jongno-gu

2017

Klara KRISTALOVA

September 7 - October 7, 2017

paris

76 RUE DE TURENNE 75003 PARIS

Camouflage

2016

Klara KRISTALOVA

May 11 - June 25, 2016

hong kong

50 CONNAUGHT ROAD CENTRAL, 17TH FLOOR - HONG KONG

Hello Stranger

2014

Chiho AOSHIMA, Daniel ARSHAM, Sophie CALLE, Johan CRETEN, Tracey EMIN, Daniel FIRMAN, GELITIN, Laurent GRASSO, JR, Gregor HILDEBRANDT, KAWS, Bharti KHER, Klara KRISTALOVA, MR., Guy LIMONE, Ryan MCGINLEY, Takashi MURAKAMI, Prune NOURRY, Jean-Michel OTHONIEL, Paola PIVI, Terry RICHARDSON, Germaine RICHIER, Aya TAKANO, Xavier VEILHAN, Andy WARHOL, Marina ABRAMOVIC, Valerie BELIN, Guerrilla Girls, Alex KATZ, Annette MESSAGER, Yoko ONO, Rob PRUITT, Cindy SHERMAN, Taryn SIMON, Mickalene THOMAS, Agnès THURNAUER, Tom WESSELMANN

May 27 - June 25, 2014

paris

60 RUE DE TURENNE 75003 PARIS

G I R L

curated by Pharrell Williams

Klara KRISTALOVA

February 27 - April 12, 2014

new york

909 Madison Avenue New York

Underworld

2012

Klara KRISTALOVA

September 8 - October 27, 2012

paris

76 RUE DE TURENNE 75003 PARIS

Wild Thought

Sophie CALLE, Johan CRETEN, Wim DELVOYE, ELMGREEN & DRAGSET, Lionel ESTÈVE, Bernard FRIZE, Bharti KHER, KOLKOZ, Klara KRISTALOVA, Guy LIMONE, Takashi MURAKAMI, Jean-Michel OTHONIEL, Paola PIVI, Claude RUTAULT, Michael SAILSTORFER, Xavier VEILHAN

March 10 - April 21, 2012

paris

76 RUE DE TURENNE 75003 PARIS

2009

Chiho AOSHIMA, Sophie CALLE, Johan CRETEN, Bernard FRIZE, GELITIN, Bharti KHER, KOLKOZ, Klara KRISTALOVA, Martin OPPEL, Jean-Michel OTHONIEL, Paola PIVI, Aya TAKANO, Tatiana TROUVÉ, Piotr UKLANSKI, Chris VASELL, Xavier VEILHAN, Peter ZIMMERMANN

March 14 - May 16, 2009

paris

76 RUE DE TURENNE 75003 PARIS

2008

Klara KRISTALOVA

January 19 - March 8, 2008

paris

10 IMPASSE SAINT CLAUDE 75003 PARIS

Short Stories

2007

Klara KRISTALOVA

May 12 - July 21, 2007

miami

Two dark holes and other stories

2021

Iván ARGOTE, Daniel ARSHAM, Johan CRETEN, Jean-Philippe DELHOMME, Jens FÄNGE, Bernard FRIZE, Laurent GRASSO, John HENDERSON, Gregor HILDEBRANDT, Hans HARTUNG, Bharti KHER, Klara KRISTALOVA, Takashi MURAKAMI, Jean-Michel OTHONIEL, Paola PIVI, Yuji UEDA

Winter 2021

paris

2BIS AVENUE MATIGNON 75008 PARIS

Perrotin Matignon
Klara Kristalova “Camouflage”, Perrotin Paris

Klara Kristalova “Camouflage”, Perrotin Paris

Klara KRISTALOVA

"After the Deluge", 2015, Art Park Ordrupgaard, Denmark

"After the Deluge", 2015, Art Park Ordrupgaard,...

Klara KRISTALOVA, Simon Starling, Henry Krokatsis,

Klara Kristalova "Underworld", Perrotin New York

Klara Kristalova "Underworld", Perrotin New York

Klara KRISTALOVA